> The issue is relevant to ad hoc queries but it's moot for
> repetitive queries,
> such as for generating a monthly publication.
That statement confuses me, and not only because Americans appear to use the
word "moot" in the opposite of its original English sense of "arguable".
The benefit of a string interface is that it gives looser coupling between
systems. The benefit of a custom syntax/protocol is that it gives earlier
validation. The experience of the last few years is that loose coupling
tends to win, across most application scenarios. Hence XML.
Michael Kay
